The Washington bee., 1887-07-30

very busy I thought no mole OF
the matter for few days, as the
excursion had come and gone aud |
no complaint had reached me of
any depredations. In fact my
neighbors stating that their gar
den had not been disturbed when
1 made inquiry of the matter,
as I frequently did, the matter
rested thus until the 18th inst ,
when 1 was informed by The agent
of the Hawthorne Club of this
city, that no more permits would
be granted for excursions to this
park. The next morning / drew
up the statement which l filed in
your Office to-day, and intended
to file it on the day ON whicn it was
written, but upou calling upon
your secretary, l was Informed
that it had been decided to not
issue permits for excursions and
picnics at this park, but that Ii
censes would be issued as usual.
To this action ] made no OBJ
lection, as from the conversation
[ was led to infer that while
license contributed to the revenue
it also conferred police protection
TO the parties paying for the same.
Imagine then my surprise upon
reaching the city this mornin g
and finding in copy OF the Bal
timore Sun of yesterday the an
nouncement that cit has been Or
dered" by the Commissioners OF
the District OF Columbia, "that no
further permits be G anted for
Giesboro picnics." I did not be-
lieve that the Honorable Com
missiouers of this District, would
strike down even the meanest
citizen without first giving him a
lair and impartial hearing, and a
chance to confront his mallgners
with full and fair testimony of the
animus of their action.
Having been at last furnishe d
with copy of the letter upon
which the action of your honor
able body is based, I desire to as K
why the ex-parte motion? Why
this absence OF notice to the de
fendant in a case of such vital
importance to him? Why not
give him due and timely notice
by summons or otherwise, so that
as a good and law abiding citizen
he may take due notice thereof
and be enabled to govern himself
accordingly ? Was itfeared that
the complaint of insufficient po-
lice force would be remedied? As
the protest is only against grant
ing permits to irresponsible par
ties having public entertainments
Or picnics al this place, and as
such have not been allowed to
come here, | am constrained TO
inquire, against what parties
is the order directed? As the
matter now stands it includes the
people of Washington city, with
out regard to social standing or
church relationship or respousi-
bility; every social club however
high It's standing; every masonic
and other benevolent organiza-
ton, aud every Sunday School or
Church society, provided always
that the same ore colored.
For though the letter has been
so carefully worded as to exclude
. any reference to color, yet it is d
matter of such ,toriety that the
= Baltimore Sun mention that "this
resort has become a special ia.
vorite of colored picnic parties -
The evidence in this case is tC
j. my mind ''plain as proof of holy
= writ" that this is an attempt, al
| have before stated, to prevent
reputable colored people from
having picnics tt ere. L cannot
believe that the Honorable Com
missioners would lend thems lives
2 to any such nefarious scheme, anC
2 although the action taken Was
without any warning or notice tC
me of any kind whatsoever, and
although 1 was not even notified
: afterwards of the action taken,
compel myself to entertain the
thought, that the Honorable Com
missioners have been seriously
misled and over-reached in this
matter, which is of vital impor-
: tance to the colored people of this
District.
In conclusion / desire here and
now to deny the truth of every